GLEANING

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall no wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.  And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger:  I am the LORD your God. ~Leviticus 19:9-10

We had the opportunity to go apple gleaning with one of our co-ops not too long ago.  It was wet and buggy, but it was for a good cause.  This organization collects the fallen fruit that is still edible and hands it out to those who are hungry--mostly in inner cities and such in the area.  They have even started programs to teach people how to cook fresh foods.  Most food pantries ask for donations of non-perishable goods so this kind of offering is really needed.  I forget off the top of my head the name of the organization, but a local farm participates in the program.

There was NO picking off the trees at all.  

Only off the ground and there were guidelines on what kind of apples were good ones.

We did not have a huge group, but we collected a boat-load of apples!!

Later in the week, the person in charge sent us an email with the details of how many pounds we picked and how many people that would feed...and to think that these would otherwise go to waste!